Try Picture in Picture Video Playback on iOS 14 Right Now (Here’s How)

Among every new feature announced that’s coming to iOS 14, there was one that stood out for many people. And no, it wasn’t the widgets, although that was another long-awaited feature.

I’m talking about the new Picture in Picture for the iPhone. This is the first time we can leave a video or a call running on the screen while we do other things or access a different app.

And while people expected more multitasking features, this Picture in Picture mode opens the door to so many other features that could come in the future.

If you haven’t tried Picture in Picture, now it’s a great time to start. Even though iOS 14 is still in beta, you can still try it out for yourself. You can use it on videos, FaceTime, and even YouTube.

How to Use Picture in Picture on Your iPhone

Starting to use Picture in Picture on your iPhone is easier than you might think. However, you need to make sure this feature is enabled. Picture in Picture is enabled by default in iOS 14, but if you want to make sure you have it on, or you just want to disable it, here’s what you got to do:

1. Go to the Settings App.
2. Select General.
3. Tap on Picture in Picture.
4. Make sure the option Start PiP Automatically is enabled.

Now that’s enabled, here’s how you can start using Picture in Picture:

1. Go to any video or streaming app that supports PiP.
2. Select the video you want to watch and go full screen.
3. Head back to the home screen by swiping up or pressing the Home Button.
4. You should see your video playing over your home screen. If it doesn’t work, try a different app like Netflix. Learn more about YouTube playback below.

You can move your video around and even change its size by pinching it with two fingers. If it bothers you, you can also make the video disappear by swiping it all the way to the left or the right. The video will still be playing and you’ll still be able to hear it.

When the video is on the screen, you can touch it to show its controls. From that small window, you can move your video forward or backward, pause it and go back to the app.

You can use Picture in Picture with FaceTime as well. You’ll have to do the steps mentioned before, and you’ll be able to hear and see the person you’re talking to.

It’s worth mentioning that not every video app supports Picture in Picture. It’s possible that the developers will update their apps by the time Apple releases a full version of iOS 14, so you’ll have to be patient.

Use Picture in Picture on YouTube

As of right now, the YouTube app doesn’t support Picture in Picture. Even if it did, this feature will most likely be available for YouTube Premium users only, like YouTube does with Android devices.

Fortunately, you can still work your way around it and play YouTube videos from the Safari App. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open the Safari App.
2. Go to YouTube.com.
3. Play any video and make it full screen.
4. You can either go to the home screen by swiping up, or touching the Home button, or tap on the Picture in Picture icon that appears on top of the video. Either way, you should go back to your home screen with the video on top of your apps or widgets.

You should know that Android also had this trick to watch YouTube videos with the help of the Firefox browser. However, YouTube “fixed” it after a while, so only their YouTube Premium users could use this feature. It’s possible that the same happens with Safari, so use it as long as you can.